52 .- "'. I I 0' I r I fl 1'" '", : {(J , c "[ l ",' N ,,:.. :', ..., . I · I i I . V1 . ^ ,,}/ in the heave of bodies, it seemed likely that the small and the aged would be crushed, but there were no mishaps. A couple of rock- ets went up half a block away, their glare blending with the neon signs. 9:50 P.M. Still wearing his red-whlte-and-blue rib- bon, Rockefeller posed for pictures in his volunteer J./'! headquarters, at 604 Fifth Avenue, with a burly man who had he en chairman of a minority-group committee for Frank O'Connor but had defected to the Repub- licans that afternoon. "Believe me, you've got courage," Rockefeller said, putting his arm around the man's shoulder. "I don't give a damn," the man saId A gIrl reporter asked the defector why he had de- fected. " B . " h . d OSSIsm, t e man sal . "Bossism. " The girl asked for partIculars. "Well, we gave the Party our sup- port, and they didn't give us any patronage," the man said slowly There was a moment's silence, and Rockefeller's arm dropped away from the man's shoulder. "What I need right now is a drink of water," Rocke- feller said, and in an instant he was out of the room. A few minutes later, he stood on top of a desk in a crowded, windowless room at the back of the building and answered questions from his volunteers. Ha ving thanked them for their help, he wen t down to hIs car, said good night to several aides, and got Into the back seat-alone (except for the driver) for the first time. The window "vas closed As the car started to pull a way down Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller sat looking straight ahead, and it appeared that, for once, he wouldn't have to wave to anybody. At the last minute, though, he glanced around, smiled, and gave a final wave, and then the car was gone. --- o "T his Dr. Steinkraus we've got working on the biochemical key to immortality has reached mandatory-ret'lrement age. Do we keep him on or give him the heave-ho )) wIth two big, healthy-looking teen- agers at a stop light, and as the car moved ahead, he saId, "That's the age to be " He seemed to like the extrovert activity of campaigning, but he also appeared to welcome a brief moment of peace 7: 15 P.M. Rockefeller emerged from a staff conference in the T ow- ers Hotel, in Brooklyn Heights, greeted six waiting children, VI rote "Rocky" on a baseball bat, a belt, a hat, a book of Second World War stories, a football, and a soccer ban, and then climbed into his station wagon and went to Chinatown. BLAM! BAM- BAM, crackety-bam, BAM! Firecrack- ers were exploding at the corner of Mott and Canal Streets; drums were pounding, bells jangling, cymbals clash- ing, gongs clanging, and huge dragon heads bobbing over the crowd. BAM- METY-BAM BAM! Rockefeller plunged heartily into the chaos of Mott Street, passing under a streetwide banner that read, "New York Chinese Community Celebrates the 55th Anniversary of the Founding of the Republic of China," and greeting black-costumed musicians, children with lighted paper lanterns, children with flags, and a number of local officials, who were wearing red- white-and-blue rihbons across their chests. He moved past Long Life En- terprises, past the Hong Fat Restau- ran t, and turned down Bavard Street; suddenly a short round of firecrackers o( :10:' , -- "".,,"" , :', --, I .'. " '--' . .., , , n ....... ..) ... . ':,' -4k<. . . ". :'M(h ' . . burst a few feet over his head, scatter- ing nervous dignitarIes, deafening ev- eryone, and leaving a fine detritus of white paper on everyone's dark suit. Rockefener paid no attention. He crossed the street to shake the hand of a chef in the kitchen doorway of the Ting Yat Sak Restaurant, and, after a turn through Little Italy, on Mulherry Street, he circled back to Mott Street. There, appearing on the second-floor balcony of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association with a red- whlte-and-blue ribbon across his chest, he said a few words in Chinese (to wild applause) and a few in English ("I am greatly impressed by the record you have made as Americans"), and then reviewed the official parade as it forced ItS way through the jammed street below. Directly across Mott Street, at eye level, a couple of boys stood on a fire escape watching hi7n. After the parade, which included drums, flags, Cub Scouts, swords, lan- terns, dragons, children in American Revolution uniforms, and a series of open convertibles fined with pretty girls, Rockefeller went downstairs and found a squad of polIce trying to clear a path for him through the solid wall of people on Mott Street. "No, no," he said to the police. "Just let me walk through the crowd." And he waited un- til the police, shrugging, had moved back into the building. Then he emerged, shaking every hand within reach; . C ONVERSATION overheard on a Dis- trict of Columbia Transit System bus, between a potential passenger and the driver: PASSENGER: Do you go to Woodley Road? DRIVER: I don't know. PASSENGER (taking a seat): Oh.